Child psychotherapy; Play therapy and sand play

Child psychotherapy helps children make sense of feelings they might be experiencing by providing them with means to explore communication and express themselves. For children, behaviour is a key means of communication: language and verbal communication may be a very small part of the therapy. Child psychotherapy, play, music, art therapy and sand play can be particularly useful for children that have additional needs, communication difficulties, experienced trauma or are non-verbal. The therapist will use a variety of tools and techniques to support your child at a level and pace that suits them.

Psychotherapy for children

Psychotherapy can help your child or one you care, to recover from traumatic events. There are many reasons why children and young people might benefit from seeing a psychotherapist or counsellor, from having anxiety to coping with bereavement.

They may find it difficult to open up, so psychotherapists trained to work with children and adolescents employ specialised strategies.

They enter the world of a child through meaningful activities that include anything from theatre and dance to creative writing and puppetry.

Children and teenagers can benefit from psychotherapy by making sense of their feelings, feeling less upset, being more self-aware, healing, and building resilience.

What issues does child psychotherapy address?

Child psychotherapists provide individualised care for kids and teens struggling with a wide range of issues. Family dissolution, abuse, behavioural disorders, autistic spectrum disorders, bedwetting, school refusal, food issues, developmental issues, and depression are a few of these.

Does my child require therapy?

Parents may find it very difficult to watch their child experience difficult emotions, especially if they are unsure how to support them. When parents decide to seek assistance, it might arouse a variety of difficult emotions. 

Allowing your child to develop their own voice and understanding of their emotional lives can be a really kind move on the part of parents. 

However, this can also make parents feel as though they have failed their children or are to responsible for their problems. Typically, this is not the case. A few appointments are scheduled for parents to discuss their options prior to beginning any individual therapy with a child.

Issues we can help with

Psychotherapy for children is available when mental or emotional problems are very severe or have persisted for a long time. It is also a choice if no one is able to comprehend the issue and the child’s struggle properly. At Hackney Therapy House, we have a registered child psychotherapist. Please check our therapist page or email us about your enquiry

Numerous issues, such as the following, can be helped by psychotherapy: 

  • Anxiety
  • Depression and behavioural
  • Issues 
  • Bullying
  • Hyperactivity
  • Low self-regard 

Children with learning and physical challenges might get support from child psychotherapists. Children on the autism spectrum can benefit from them. Youngsters may be responding to well-known life events, or problems could have arisen for no apparent reason.

Effectiveness

Even with the most distressing symptoms, psychotherapy occasionally produces extremely noticeable results very fast. But, the goal of treatment goes beyond simply eliminating unwelcome symptoms. It seeks to assist the person in making better use of upcoming chances and connections.  The goal is to help very young children get started on a good developmental path.  According to research, psychotherapy is particularly useful in treating developmental disorders, anxiety disorders, and depression. There is proof that neglected and deprived children and females who have experienced sexual abuse have had positive results.  Long-term improvements have been proven to either increase or be sustained. A few sessions are scheduled for parents to discuss some of these issues prior to starting any one-on-one treatment with a child.  It is frequently seen that children who start to understand their own emotional lives have stronger relationships with their loved ones.

Sand Tray Therapy: What Is It?

Those who have gone through a traumatic event, such as abuse or a tragic disaster, can benefit from sand tray therapy or sand play therapy. Sand play therapy is most frequently utilised with kids, although teens and adults can also benefit from it.  Psychotherapists use sand trays during this therapy to evaluate, identify, or treat a range of mental problems. According to research, sand tray therapy can promote emotional expression while lowering any potential psychological suffering brought on by talking about traumatic events or experiences.  Dora Kalff created sand tray therapy after working with Margaret Lowenfeld, a British child psychiatrist and creator of the World Method. Buddhist contemplative techniques also had an impact on Kalff’s thesis, which was founded on Jungian philosophy. Sand tray treatment is predicated on the idea that, in a safe environment, a client will use the sand tray to come up with answers to their problems by themselves.
How ıt works

Let's plan your therapy

Look through the list of available therapists to find who interests you. You can read about their background and methodology. Please check FAQs for more information.

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You can contact the therapist directly. Before scheduling an initial consultation, you are invited to contact any of our therapists by phone or email for an informal discussion.

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You can use our help me find a therapist form to contact us directly.

We'll locate you two to three therapists.

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